In the former category, while each of the best samplers in our guide below has its merits - both in terms of ease-of-use and capabilities - we're drawn towards the Elektron Digitakt (opens in new tab) which is easily the most fun. It's pretty clear that if you are in the market for a hardware sampler, you first need to decide whether you want one of the more reasonably-priced sampling options or a fully-blown workstation to make complete tunes with. If you'd rather just get to the products, keep scrolling. We've included some in-depth buying advice at the end of this guide, so if you'd like to read more, click the link. Our handy price widgets also display the latest and best prices from our trusted retailers. We've listed our choice samplers in price order to make it easier for you to find the right one for your budget.

There is a hardware sampling device for every task and every pocket, and here we round up the best ones available right now. These workstation samplers are at the very high end though there are also samplers at every budget level and for every use: from fun pocket-sized and low cost options, through samplers designed to sit in the DJ booth, to beat making samplers right up to those full-on hardware DAWs.

You can, as we shall see below, use a sampling workstation to create entire pieces of music, without a computer! We have, then, gone full circle technology wise: from simple rack samplers that sat next to computers, through computers handling all of your software sampling, right back to standalone power houses of sampling tech that do everything out of the box without a computer in sight! Hardware samplers have also become massively powerful and far more creative for the recording and performing musician than those rack units from the 1990s. This is because, like those hardware synths, people love the tactile approach to using a hardware box to create music.

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